You Want To Be Together
by Island Bell
Summary: Everyone knows Finn and Rachel want to be together: even their parents. No one wants to let this break-up last: but no-one more than Finchel themselves. Post 2:09.
1. Chapter 1

Carole loves her son.

They haven't had a perfect life. Hell, they haven't even had a perfect relationship. She raised her son alone, and while being Finn's mother felt from the second he was born like the most natural thing in the world, there was something awful and inhuman and just terribly unfair about being his mother when he didn't have a father. It broke her heart, when he was little, to see him look up at her with those beautiful eyes shining with contentment and trust, not knowing that she was only half of what he deserved – and it broke her heart again when she looked at him one day, years later, and realized that somewhere along the line, he had worked out something was missing. She hated knowing that no matter how much she loved Finn – no matter how much he loved her – she could never fill the void his father left. Mothers could love so fiercely; they were willing martyrs, striving to shelter their children's dreams from the harsh, pricking spears of reality, to protect their kids from fear and doubt. She would do anything for Finn – piss off her boss at the first good job she'd had in years to make a parent teacher conference, spend hours after school helping him understand algebra and geometry because he just didn't grasp those things as fast as other kids did. Get back in a car with him even though she still had nightmares about the mailman he hit going at twenty miles an hour, just so he knew she believed he could get past his fears.

She would die for Finn.

But no matter how hard she tried, she could never be a father for him.

So sometimes, Finn kept secrets from her. When she found him singing to a sonogram that day and worked out that Quinn was pregnant, she knew why he hadn't told her earlier. Boys wanted their mothers to be proud of them. It was to them they went to when they got an A+ on an English essay; when the girl they asked to homecoming accepted their invitation; when they made quarterback.

They went to their fathers for advice about mistakes. Fathers understood that being a man was not about being perfect. But Finn, like every boy, couldn't help but hope even after he learned that lesson that his mother, if no-one else, would still see past his flaws.

She figured it probably made him stronger, having to be the man in the family. By the time he was eight he could pick up a spider with his bare hands to take it outside, when Carole couldn't even look at it without breaking into a sweat; at twelve he could fix anything that went wrong with their car. He shovelled the driveway when it snowed without complaint; and soon he grew so tall that she no longer needed a stepladder or stool to reach things stowed up high in cupboards. She knew he was proud of having so many responsibilities, but oh, she didn't mean to give them to him. No mother would. She wanted Finn to be allowed to be scared of spiders. To revel in the magic and beauty of snow at Christmas instead of resignedly pulling on his gloves and heading outside to spend an hour clearing the concrete with the professionalism and good-natured boredom of a seasoned adult who had long ago forgotten how good snow tasted when you let it hit your tongue instead of the ground, or how every single snowflake, a speck of white to the naked human eye, looked like an ice castle when magnified.

But no matter what he missed out on being brought up by Carole, Finn grew into an amazing young man. He had a wonderful heart; and somehow, despite his maturity in certain aspects of life, he retained a kind of innocence that manifested itself in a smile that seemed disbelieving at how good life could be - and an immaturity that leaked from his pores like water from sprung pipes. He may not be scared of spiders, but he was scared of letting people down. And no matter how many things Finn did for Carole, things only a tall, broad shouldered hulking teenager of a man could do in a house that was beginning to fall apart, there were still some things only Carole could do for him.

Friday night dinners with the Hummels had turned into a nightly ritual now that Carole and Burt were married. It had all happened so suddenly that they hadn't had time to buy a new house for the four of them before the wedding, and so here in their third week of marriage they were still trekking the exciting yet somewhat stressful path towards joint home ownership and a home that both their sons could call their own. Carole's house was still on the market: Burt's, being somewhat newer, bigger and fashionably decorated (thanks to Kurt) had been snapped up almost immediately and so Burt and Kurt had, for now, moved into the Hudson home... until such a time as it was sold too and they bought a new one - together.

And they had learned from their past mistakes. Finn had been told well ahead of time that the move was coming, so he could get adjusted to the idea - and it was Kurt this time who insisted on seperate rooms, genuinely citing Finn's horrible taste in interior design as a reason (because no matter how temporary the arrangement, Kurt could not live in a room plastered from floor to ceiling with cowboy prints. He said he felt like he was in the lair of serial killer, languishing within walls that wore the russet, cowboy-shaped bloodstains of fashions that had been horribly murdered, and just as the doomed future victims of a psychopath became horrifically aware of their impending fate just by looking at the bloodstains of those who passed before them, he could clearly invision the future that would be inevitable if he were forced to sleep in that room; a future filled with plaid and those ridiculous puffy vests Finn sometimes wore. So yeah - Kurt took over the sewing/storage room, and within a week it resembled ).

She was dicing chicken for a stir-fry when Finn got home from school that Friday - not Finn's nor hers favourite meal, but Kurt loved it and it was good for Burt's heart. She kind of loved looking after all these men.

She knew he was home from the sound of his car pulling into the driveway, and waited happily until the sound of the front door swinging open heralded his entrance into the house.

'Hey, sweetie, how was your day?' called Carole over her shoulder. She heard the familiar thud of Finn's schoolbag hitting the floor as he walked through the living room, and waiting expectantly for his clattering footsteps to grow louder as he entered the kitchen, chattering excitedly about the latest Glee assignment or blushing as he told her the latest funny thing Rachel had said that she didn't even realize was funny, 'but she's so awesome, Mom, really.' But the footsteps never came; and instead she heard him bounding upstairs without a word. She narrowed her eyes, half annoyed and half concerned.

'Finn?' she yelled loudly.

Her voice reverberated throughout the house. The silence was such that he must have heard her even from his room, with the door shut. But no response.

Worry started to creep in. Finn may still be a kid in a lot of ways, but he was usually polite, especially to her. Something must have happened at school, or in Glee… she hoped it wasn't something to do with the rivalry between McKinley's _New Directions _and Dalton's _Warblers, _because Kurt and Finn had been getting along so well since the wedding…

Just as she made up her mind to go upstairs and ask him what was going on, she heard the muffled jingling of a key being turned in the lock on the front door, and the familiar, sighing creak as it was flung open. Voices spilled into the house like a gust of wind.

'... a _canary, _Kurt. I swear, the things you kids come up with these days -'

'I didn't come up with it Dad. This _warbler _is part of an ancient unbroken line that can be traced back to the 1800s. If it dies, I'll probably be flogged.'

'Boy, you're a drama queen sometimes...'

Kurt and Burt emerged around the corner, and Carole smiled, putting down her knife to walk forward and hug her husband.

'Hey, beautiful,' Burt said, waggling his eyebrows as he wrapped his arms around her. Carole heard Kurt snicker in disgust and laughed, pulling away to give her step-son a kiss on the cheek.

'Hello boys. How was school today, Kurt?'

'It was alright,' he shrugged. 'But as soon as I've eaten something that will boost my blood sugar, I'm going upstairs to change. This uniform is stifling me.'

Carole snorted and Burt looked at his son half fondly, half exasperatedly.

'Go ahead, Kurt,' said Carole. Then she remembered. 'But - do you know if anything happened with Finn at school today? He didn't say a word when he got home and he's sitting up in his room by himself...'

To her surprise, Kurt immediately looked uncomfortable.

'Um... well, despite no longer going to McKinley, I am still well informed about the drama. Mercedes has been keeping me updated. She likes to think she's the black, not-anonymous version of Gossip Girl. Which would make me, as the receptant of her posts, one of the well dressed Upper East Siders... I'd like to think of myself as Chuck, but -'

'Kurt!' interrupted Burt, looking bewildered. 'What the hell are you talking about?'

Kurt looked sheepish.

'Sorry. You know how I get with Gossip Girl. What I meant to say is... uh...'

Burt waved his hands, pushing him to continue.

'Finn and Rachel broke up,' said Kurt hurriedly, looking straight at his shoes.

Carole gasped.

It had never occurred to her that Finn might be having girlfriend problems. For one thing, the poor kid had surely fulfilled his quota of romantic troubles for the decade with the whole Babygate drama; but more importantly, he seemed so happy with Rachel. Carole had seen them together at the wedding less than a month ago; and God, they adored each other. They spent almost every second dancing with each other or smiling at each other or, when they weren't actually together, talking about each other - Carole had overheard Rachel singing Finn's praises to Mercedes after his dedication number to Kurt, and she had been glad that her son had finally found a girl who saw the courage and strength in him.

_'Finn spent ages getting that choreography right with me,' Rachel had beamed, as Mercedes rolled her eyes but listened good-naturedly. 'I said Kurt would notice the effort he put into formulating a well rounded performance in his honour, being - like myself - a fan of all facets of the performing arts, and Finn agreed, of course. I think he did wonderfully.'_

_'That wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that you're incredibly biased, now would it,' said Mercedes dryly, and Rachel blushed._

_'Of course not. Finn doesn't need my bias to be spectacular. He's amazing just the way he is.'_

'Oh, no,' said Carole sadly. 'Why on earth did they break up? They seemed so happy!'

'I haven't heard the full story, I just got a text from Mercedes this afternoon. I didn't get a chance to ask for details - Blaine was helping me with my trigonometry excercises and it's kind of intense stuff. I'm not actually sure how much anyone knows...but, uh... here.'

Kurt rummaged in his blazer pocket and quickly pulled out his phone, bringing the message up on the screen and holding it out for Carole to read.

HEY KURT - FINN BROKE UP WITH RACHEL. ND IS FREAKING OUT, YOU BETTER TRY AND TALK SOME SENSE INTO F WHEN YOU GET HOME. XX MCDES.

'I'm sure it's just a fight, they'll be back together in a week or so,' said Burt reassuringly, squeezing Carole's hand.

'Oh... I just hope nothing bad happened. Finn's been so happy with Rachel,' said Carole worriedly.

'I think they've been having problems just over the past couple of days,' said Kurt awkwardly. Carole looked at him in surprise and opened her mouth to ask what he meant, but he threw his hands up defensively.

'Whatever's going on,' he said, 'I think you should find out from Finn.'

'Kurt, do you _know _what's going on?' demanded Burt. 'Because Carole and I are sort of in the dark, here.'

'I swear on Pavarotti's soul that I do _not _know why Finn broke up with Rachel,' said Kurt firmly, and Burt nodded, satisfied. He turned to Carole.

'Honey, maybe you should go talk to him...' he suggested. 'He must be pretty upset. Maybe you can find out what happened... see if there's anything we can do to help.'

'Yeah, I'll go talk to him,' agreed Carole. She turned to her chopping board, picked up the knife and turned back to shove it into Burt's hands.

'You,' she said, 'keep dicing that chicken. Kurt, once you've eaten and gotten changed, you can supervise.'

She exited the room and started walking up the stairs to Burt's outraged cry of 'I'm forty five, Carole!'

Finn's room was the second to the left at the top of the staircase. The door was closed, but she could hear his footsteps moving inside. Hesitantly, she knocked. No response.

'Finn?' she called.

'Yeah?'

She almost jumped. It was the first thing he'd said all afternoon - and he practically barked it at her.

'Can I come in?'

'Yep.'

She opened the door and stepped inside.

Finn's room was a treasure trove of male paraphernalia; baseball mitts, footballs, dirty socks, plates with half eaten sandwiches on them, an x-box. He never made his bed, or dusted, or picked his clothes up off the floor - but today, Finn's room was spotless, and Finn was standing with his back to Carole near the desk, jerkily tidying a pile of books that were stacked near his computer. Finn _cleaned his room. _He must really be upset.

'Hey, honey,' said Carole gently. Finn grunted in response.

She moved to sit on his bed, and observed his shoulders tensing as he realized she wasn't planning on a quick visit but an actual conversation.

'Kurt told me about you and Rachel.'

Just like that, he turned around, and she was shocked at the anger on his face. It wasn't for no reason that the kids at his school had coined the nickname Finnocence - Finn was good, Finn was sweet, Finn was the epitomy of everything kind and forgiving, and if he was ever upset you were more likely to find him crying than angry. But his eyes were completely dry, and flashing with annoyance; his jaw was clenched, lips pressed together in a thin line that truly showed how furious he was.

'Kurt told you? Kurt _knows? _What the hell! It only happened like, two hours ago,' he shouted, throwing his hands out in disgust. He glared at her, as though blaming her somehow for the speed of the high school gossip circuit, and she recoiled slightly, a little stunned.

'You know what high school's like, Finn. Everybody knows everything about everyone,' she said placatingly.

'Well, that was really great of him to just go ahead and tell you like that,' he spat resentfully, crossing his arms. Carole raised her eyebrows, stern.

'Kurt told me because I was worried about you. You didn't say a word when you got home. You just locked yourself in your room. Were _you_ going to tell me what happened?'

He scowled at her, leaning against the wall with a stony expression and his arms still crossed tight against his chest. She took his silence and pissed off demeanour as a no, and sighed.

'Baby, I know it's horrible but you and Rachel will work things out. It's not hard to tell that -'

'What, Mom?' he snapped. 'That Rachel doesn't give a shit about anything other than her own ego? Damn straight it's not hard to tell.'

'Finn!' she said, appalled at both his language and his attitude. Finn _loved _Rachel. Just the mention of her name put a smile on his face - and though she'd met Rachel, and knew and understood that a lot of the other Glee kids found her pushy and selfish and boastful, Finn had always been her staunchest supporter. The way he talked about her... his voice got all funny and his eyes lit up a little and she always took from those signs that Finn saw something magical in Rachel, and she could only be happy about that, because Rachel certainly made _him _happy. At least, up until now.

'What makes you say that? What happened?' she asked pleadingly.

For a moment Finn just looked at her. There was a tense silence as he decided whether or not to tell Carole the truth, and then he took a deep breath and spilled it all out in a matter of seconds, as though the very act of saying the words pained him.

'She kissed Puck,' he said flatly.

_What? _

Carole's jaw dropped open with shock.

Rachel kissed Puck? PUCK? All at once her mind was simultaneously flooded with anger at her son's ex-best friend and his girlfriend. Why did Puck, who Finn had once viewed as the highest form of cool, the person he most wanted to be like (she had to admit, though she regretted the disintegration of their friendship she certainly didn't miss that worrying hero worship) seem to make it his mission in life to take every girl Finn ever liked? And why on earth would Rachel, who looked at her son like he hung the moon and wore his name around her neck like a shield, kiss him knowing not only that the act would ruin her relationship with Finn but that the person she chose to do it with would make him feel worse than anyone else possibly could?

Finn was watching her intensely, his expression daring her to excuse Rachel, to say anything that might imply he could ever or should ever forgive her. And looking back at him, Carole noticed for the first time that Finn _wasn't _just angry. He was hurt, too. His arms weren't crossed over his chest out of defiance, but in a subconscious act to hold himself together; and the tight, angry lines of his face were not just a mark of his rage and indignation, but of how hard he was trying not to cry.

'I'm so sorry,' she said softly, getting up and walking over to stand in front of him. She reached up in the bizarre reversion of parent-child maneuvers that had become so familiar to them since his growth spurt and squeezed his shoulder comfortingly. Finn's face crumpled and he inhaled shakily, nodding in acknowledgment but signalling the end of the discussion. Carole's stomach clenched as she noticed the way he scrunched his eyes, determined not to shed a tear for Rachel, and with one last smile, she tried to convey that things would get better, that he didn't deserve this, that she would always be on his side - and then she turned around and walked away, to save the last remaining shreds of his pride before he lost his composure. She closed the door gently behind her, and did not scold him when she heard the telltale thud of his foot hitting the wall. He deserved to kick something, and she preferred it be his bedroom wall than Puck or Rachel.

'Is he okay?'

Carole spun around and surprised, and sighed when she saw Burt with his hands in his pockets, looking concerned.

'He's angry. Rachel kissed Puck,' explained Carole regretfully, keeping her voice low to prevent Finn from overhearing. Burt's eyes went wide.

'What? I... wow. I never would have expected that,' he confessed. 'I thought better of Rachel than that... and I certainly never thought she would do that to Finn!'

'I didn't either,' admitted Carole. 'She's such a nice girl... unique, but nice.'

'Unique is one word for it,' said Burt derisively, his expression growing annoyed.

'Burt.' Carole put her hands on his shoulders, looking him in the eyes, compelling him. 'They're kids.'

'Yeah, I know,' sighed Burt. 'I mean... I guess she must have had a reason, right?'

'I suppose,' said Carole slowly. She _must _have had a reason. Something had to have changed between now and the wedding to cause those two blissfully happy kids to fall apart - _something _must have driven her into Puck's arms. But she doubted she would get a straight answer from Finn - he was too angry and hurt to think of anything but how bad Rachel made him feel.

She wished things still worked like they had when he was little: when he ran to her with his problems and not only wanted but expected her to make them magically right themselves again. Now Finn wanted to sort out his own messes... though she would always help. If she could.

'Maybe we could get Kurt to find out for us,' she suggested. Burt looked doubtful.

'I don't know... those Glee kids mean well but if we go asking for information about their relationship who knows what they'll stir up,' he reasoned.

'Yeah... that was a stupid idea.'

A weird look passed over Burt's face; Carole knew him well enough to recognize his 'I just got an idea but you might not like it' face, and she raised her eyebrows, half curious half apprehensive.

'You know who you could ask,' said Burt. When Carole didn't answer with an immediate 'yes, I do - why didn't I think of that!' he continued on, looking impatient, waving his hands. 'Rachel.'

Carole laughed... until she realized he wasn't joking.

'You want me to go and ask my son's... _ex-_girlfriend why she kissed another boy?' she asked disbelievingly. 'That's a _terrible _idea.'

'Why?' asked Burt defensively. 'She'll be far more likely to give an answer than Finn will - she'll want to justify why she did what she did! At least that way we'd know... and we might be able to help.'

'You can't be serious,' she said, astonished.

Burt gave her his very serious expression: narrowed eyes, furrowed eyebrows, mouth set in a firm line that teetered on the edge of a pout. She found it very difficult to take him seriously.

'Burt,' she said - anything to get that ridiculous look off his face - 'I _can't ask Rachel. _It's interfering - they're teenagers, they'll be adults in a few years, their relationships are their responsibility and their business, and their mistakes are their own to make. It crosses every line of propriety there is - Finn would be embarassed, Rachel would be embarassed, it would just - it would be a mess. And you're right - she'd want to justify why she did what she did. I would hardly think she's likely to give an objective account. She's _Rachel.'_

Carole thought she'd made several compelling points - including her very true proclamation that 'she's _Rachel', _which in and of itself was enough for two people who only knew Rachel superficially to be doubtful about the success of the venture - but Burt still looked a little unconvinced.

'_What?' _she asked, exasperated.

'Hey,' said Burt. He grinned - that madcap, irresistible grin of his - and moved beside her so he could put an arm around her shoulders. 'All I'm saying is... Rachel really loves Finn. I mean, we think she still loves Finn, right?'

'I think she must.'

'Well,' he said, 'we've seen how great they are together. That girl needs him in her life. I just think she's smart enough to put all her crazy and the self-defense aside and explain what happened if she thinks you'll be able to help.'

Carole was silent.

The truth was, she thought it was inappropriate. It was ridiculous; it was insane; it was likely to do more harm than good! But the more she thought about it, the less she cared. She just kept thinking back to the way Finn fought to hold himself together in his room, falling apart without Rachel - she kept seeing his eyes, begging her to leave before he started crying, because he couldn't take losing all his pride in one day. The truth was that if she was Rachel's father (either one of them) she'd be horrified at what she was thinking of doing. But as Finn's mother, she couldn't see much of a choice - it was risk making things worse in a relationship that was basically already over, but chance getting her son back together with the girl he loved; or do nothing, and just watch him be miserable. And suddenly she knew what she was going to do.

She looked up at Burt - and could tell from his eyes that he'd known, all along, that she would agree to do it - with a little convincing. She laughed quietly and stood up on her tiptoes to kiss him briefly, before pulling back to look into his eyes.

'I never knew you were such a big fan of 'Finchel',' she said teasingly. He chuckled, but his face quickly turned solemn.

'I don't know,' he said seriously. 'Finn and Rachel both clearly have their problems... flaws they're working to overcome. Every kid does. But it's not often you find two who bring out the best in each other. Make them forget sometimes how flawed they are. Finn's a bit of a kid sometimes, gets caught up in what it takes to be popular, too concerned with what other people think of him. Rachel helps him see that he's better than that. And Rachel... that girl is nine kinds of insecure, but anyone can see she feels like a million bucks when she's with him.' He paused, and said hesitantly, 'It's the kind of relationship I'd like Kurt to have some day. Only... with a boy.'

He grinned as Carole laughed. It was strange. People looked at Burt and saw the burly, simplistic mechanic who loved football and baseball and really big sandwiches; she was lucky enough to know the father, the philosopher, the wise man. She'd never really thought about just how much Finn and Rachel gave to each other that way... and it was a lot more than a smile.

She shook her head, disengaging herself from that train of thought. Car keys. She needed car keys.

As if he read her mind, Burt pulled his keys from his jeans pocket and held them up, smiling rakishly.

'I'll drive you. I want to know what happens.'


	2. Chapter 2

Crickets were chirping. How very dramatic of them. All she wanted to do was sit in the car and work up the nerve to go into Rachel's house and demand she tell Carole why she kissed a boy that was not her son, and the damn crickets were chirping as they did in every single movie ever where the heroine (usually a frizzy haired teenage girl) did something like sneak into the house of the boy she had a crush on to steal a pair of his boxers or put a dead fish in the air vent of the cheerleading captain's home - something stupid, inappropriate and ultimately pointless. Not to mention it was only six o'clock and already getting dark. It didn't bode well.

'Are you gonna go in anytime soon?' asked Burt patiently, giving his wife a bemused smile. Carole glared at him.

Rachel's house was in the nice part of town. Carole had picked Finn up from there twice before, and she remembered it well... the pristinely manicured lawn, the gleaming white picket fence like a row of fangs sinking into the wealth that weighed down the air; which smelt fresher, purer somehow, like money could buy miracles and reverse the smog and pollution that clouded the air in the rest of Lima. Rachel's house was an enormous brick beauty, tarnished only by a beard of tangled ivy that crept its way up the side of the house and somehow knew to stay neat and close-shaven.

She knew that in the grand scheme of the world, Rachel's parents weren't ridiculously wealthy. They had enough money for a nice house in a nice neighbourhood, and they could afford to take holidays every summer and pay for Rachel's singing and dance lessons without skimping on the groceries. They were hardly dripping with cash, but in comparison to Carole - or at least, pre-'shared savings account with Burt' Carole - they were living in the lap of luxury. And the dazed look on Finn's face when she picked him up from Rachel's that first time - a few months ago, when his car ran out of gas and he was over there 'working on a science project' (yeah, right) - told her that he too had noticed the difference between the stained, fading wallpaper of their house and the stylish cleanliness of Rachel's walls. He didn't seem to mind, but Carole felt a little uncomfortable. This wasn't the kind of house where you took your shoes off before going in; this was the kind of house where you wore stilettos that cost two hundred bucks just to come over for dinner, and didn't care if they were muddy because someone would be paid to mop it up.

She knew exactly where Rachel's room was in the house, because you could see into her front window from the street. The light in there seemed to burn brighter than anywhere else in the house (Carole had remarked on this to Finn, feeling philosophical, and he told her that Rachel had actually installed a lightbulb of the same strength that was used to illuminate the stage of Carmel High, in order to acclimate herself to the blinding brightness of the Broadway lights).

'Yep,' said Carole finally. 'This is ridiculous. Finn would _kill me _if he knew I was here.'

Suddenly something occurred to her, and she gasped.

'Finn! What's he going to do if he realizes I'm gone?'

'I'm sure his first guess at your whereabouts won't be 'Rachel's house, to find out why she kissed Puck',' said Burt wryly. 'I told Kurt we were going to get some more groceries. Finn's got no reason not to believe him.'

'Right,' breathed Carole. 'Okay. So I have no reason not to do this.'

Apart from the fact that it's INSANE. Apart from the fact that if anyone finds out she ever did this, they will think that she's crazy; and that if this backfires and she makes things worse between Finn and Rachel, her son will never trust her with his personal life again.

'None whatsoever,' agreed Burt, and he reached over to unbuckle her seatbelt, then stretched his arm over past her legs to pop the handle of the door. It sprung open, and he grinned. 'Off you go.'

'You just like watching me squirm,' she accused, getting out of the car.

'You're adorable when you squirm,' Burt said, and she rolled her eyes, slamming the door shut behind her. She walked up the neatly paved pathway to the Berrys' front door; illuminated by a dangling lantern, and rang the doorbell, keeping an eye on the frosted glass panels on either side of the door to watch for someone approaching. Within a few seconds a body shimmered into view and the door swung open, revealing a tall, handsome African American man - Leroy Berry, Rachel's father.

'Hello, Carole!' he said, clearly surprised. 'How are you, today?'

'I'm well, thanks, you?'

'Can't complain, can't complain...' he trailed off, looking at her curiously. They'd only met each other a couple of times, at Glee performances and ferrying their respective children to and from dates - and though she liked him, and liked the way he rose above the petty gossip and snide looks of the judgmental Lima parents who thought Rachel was somehow disadvantaged by being raised by two gay men - they hardly had the kind of relationship where she could routinely drop in unannounced. She cleared her throat.

'I was wondering if I could have a chat with Rachel,' said Carole politely.

'Oh - is everything okay? Is it Finn?' asked Leroy, concerned, and Carole couldn't help but smile. Her son the charmer... it wasn't every kid that could provoke such genuine concern in the father of the girl he liked to make out with.

'Oh, Finn's fine, I just wanted to have some girl talk with Rachel... he's going through a hard time at the moment and I wanted to see if she knew anything.'

It wasn't a lie.

She felt kind of bad lying - or at least omitting - her way past Rachel's father; like she was breaking some parental code of honour that said parents had a right to know what was going on in their kids' lives. But she was here now...

'Of course. Come on in.'

Leroy opened the door wider and beckoned for her to enter. Carole was sure the walls had been painted white the last time she was there, and a deep red the time before that; they were now a dusky blue. She guessed ACLU lawyers and... whatever it is Jeremy Berry calls himself... could afford to redecorate every few months.

'Rachel's just up in her room - doing homework. Or at least, I assume she's doing homework, she's not singing...' he grinned. Carole laughed nervously as Leroy showed her towards the staircase.

'It's the third one on the right - you'll know it when you see it.'

Carole rapped Rachel's bedroom door - which was emblazoned with a large, bedazzled gold star embellished with the words _Rachel Berry _in vivid pink cursive.

'I'm doing homework!'

Rachel's voice was muffled by the door but she had brilliant projection; it was as though she was yelling in Carole's ear. She wondered how Finn managed to hang out with the girl so often without getting a headache.

'Rachel, it's Carole Hudson, Finn's mom.'

Silence. What do you know, it _can _be done. It stretched on for so long that Carole started to feel uncomfortable; the ridiculousness of what she was doing seemed to crowd in around her, and she wondered what Rachel was thinking - whether she would even let Carole through the door, until her voice broke the silence again - quieter this time. Unsure.

'Did, um... did Finn send you?'

She sounded so hopeful that Carole almost felt sorry for her. But Rachel had kissed Puck...

'No,' she replied. 'Finn doesn't know I'm here.'

'Oh.'

This time, her voice was so steeped in disappointment that Carole could barely hear her. It seemed the volume of Rachel's voice fluctuated in accordance to her moods; when she was happy, you could hear her for miles. But when she wasn't, her voice was dampened, quietened by sorrow.

'Is he okay?'

'Could I come in?' asked Carole quickly. 'I was hoping to have a chat with you about what happened. I'm not here to yell at you, Rachel. I just know how happy Finn's been lately... I want to understand why you did what you did. Maybe I can help you fix it.'

'I doubt it. He hates me now.'

'Rachel.' Carole gave up trying to plead with her and decided to be firm. 'Please let me in.'

A couple of seconds later, the door swung open.

Rachel stood before her, dressed in black leggings and a cream knitted turtleneck; her hair piled on top of her head. It wasn't very _Rachel... _but it did remind Carole somewhat of Meg Ryan in some old 90's movie, crying in bed over her latest romantic failure, and knowing Rachel the resemblance was entirely deliberate - it didn't surprise Carole that this girl would want to mourn a break-up in an outfit that represented dumped women via the most well known commercial actress of the romantic-comedy hayday (yeah, Carole knew about movies. She'd mourned a break-up or two Meg Ryan style herself... but she'd personally opted for the ice-cream instead of the ensemble).

It was her face that stopped Carole in her tracks. Rachel, like Finn, had clearly chosen not to cry (or at least, she wasn't at the moment). But while Finn looked angry, Rachel just looked sad.

'This is kind of weird,' Rachel said awkwardly. 'I mean... no offence, but most parents would be at home with their kid, telling him to forget all about his slutty, whorey girlfriend - that there are plenty of fish in the sea and he should just forget about me and find a nice, tall girl who hates guys with mohawks. And you're over here, talking to me. To... help me?'

'Yes.'

'Why would you want to help me?' asked Rachel tremulously. 'You must hate me. I cheated on your son.'

'Well, I'm not here for your sake, Rachel. I'm here for Finn's. But I don't hate you.'

Rachel sighed.

'Well... come in, I guess.'

Carole stepped into her bedroom, vaguely noting a lot of pastel and a really bright overhead light, and waited for Rachel to shut the door again.

'So, I was wondering -'

'Wait,' interrupted Rachel. 'How did you get past my dad? I didn't tell him Finn and I broke up. If _you _did he'd be up here with a glass of water, trying to convince me to go see my therapist.'

Carole raised an eyebrow. Rachel had a therapist? She wondered if Finn knew that.

'I was vague,' she admitted. 'I said I needed help understanding Finn... that he was going through a hard time. Your dad actually seemed pretty worried. He and Finn must get along.'

'Dad thinks Finn is wonderful,' said Rachel, smiling despite herself. 'They bonded over a mutual love of that... baseball player, John DiMargio or le Margio or something, when Finn was over here for dinner one time. It's Daddy who's the overprotective one. He told Finn that if he ever hurt me...' she trailed off, suddenly realizing what she'd said, and looked at the floor, miserable.

Carole sat down on Rachel's bed, just like she had on Finn's less than an hour ago. Except Finn's duvet cover didn't have sequins that dug into her butt like tacks, but that was hardly important.

'Rachel... you and Finn were so happy. Why would you suddenly decide to kiss Puck?'

It was done. She'd asked the question. And she expected Rachel to look guilty, or scared, or to burst into tears. She certainly didn't expect her to look...stunned.

'He didn't tell you?' she exclaimed, almost angry.

'Well... no!'

'Look, Mrs Hudson -' Rachel began -

'Carole.'

'Carole, I know what I did was awful. And I know I really hurt Finn. I feel terrible about that. But I only kissed Puck because I was so mad at him in the first place, for having sex with Santana and _lying _about it even when I made my heart-wrenching confession about my own virginity-related miscommunications, reaching into the depths of my soul and -'

'_What?' _Carole said hoarsely.

Finn had sex with Santana? Finn had _sex?_ With _Santana? _God... she'd wanted to know why Rachel kissed Puck... but she would sell her soul to unlearn what she had just heard. Kids Finn's age didn't have sex! Well... okay, they did. And she'd certainly been forced to confront that mortifying fact before with Quinn and the baby drama. But she didn't _want _to believe Finn had sex. Finn was supposed to still be a kid, six foot four or not. He was supposed to like girls for their personalities and their smiles and their shiny, shiny hair... not for... _that._

And she couldn't even fathom Finn having feelings for Santana. That girl was a black hole of misery and venom; beautiful, yes, but shallow and vindictive - and she had thought he loved Rachel enough to wait, if he had to, to... God, have _sex... _instead of running off with a cheerleader. What _was _it with this boy and cheerleaders? Hadn't she raised him to see past those ridiculous little skirts and the perfect hair and... wow, that actually sounded a lot like Rachel. Is that why Finn had _chosen _Rachel, after his relationship with Quinn fell apart? Because she was the next best thing to a cheerleader? And when he'd realized he'd have to wait... but hadn't she taught him to treat girls better than that? To treat _people _better than that?

She marvelled at her own naivete. For some reason she had thought Rachel's motives must have been lust for Puck or some high-school desire to not be tied down to one boy; it had never occurred to her, in all her maternal pride and indignation, to cast blame on her son.

She must have looked as though she'd swallowed a lemon, because Rachel's expression changed from defensive to sheepish.

'In the spirit of honesty,' she said, sitting down next to Carole on the bed, 'I should probably clarify that he did it _before _we started dating.'

Oh.

Well. It was still _Santana... _but now she felt a little better about Finn. Worse about Rachel. Kind of shaky about Santana.

'Then,' she said slowly, 'Finn didn't cheat on you...'

'No, but he lied to me!' cried Rachel, looking outraged and flourishing her hands to emphasize the criminality of the act. 'When I was dating Jesse I told Finn that I... you know... with him, to make Finn jealous, but when we got together I _told _him that it was a lie because I wanted to be honest with him, even though I thought he might be upset. I said all this stuff about how it would be so much better now, because we could wait for each other and it would be special... and he just sat there and nodded because he wanted to trick me into doing it with him. And _everybody knew - _everyone in the Glee club, and nobody told me. Do you know how humiliating that is? It's like they were all co-conspirators in Finn's master plan to get me to have sex with him!'

Carole sighed.

'I understand why the lying might have upset you, Rachel,' she conceded, 'but I'm sure Finn just didn't want to hurt you.'

'That's what he said,' said Rachel sullenly, 'and it's such a crock. He didn't want to hurt _himself. _He _knows _how much I value honesty and how important my virginity is to me, and if he was prepared to let me give it to him because of a _lie _then he doesn't respect me at all. _And -' _she jumped up off the bed, pointing a finger dramatically at Carole, 'you know, I told him upfront about what happened with Puck even though it ended up causing him to break up with me, because I respected him enough to tell him the truth. Finn just tells me what I want to hear.'

But that was Finn. He didn't know how to hurt people, even if it was what they needed.

'And that it was _Santana...'_

'Does it really matter who it was with?'

'It does if it's _her,' _whispered Rachel.

Her bravado and feminist indignation was gone, replaced with hurt. Carole leaned forward.

'Rachel, why does it bother you so much that it was Santana. Would you have been driven to kiss Puck if Finn had... with Quinn? Or Brittany, or anyone else?'

'No!' Rachel cried, high pitched. 'At least then I could justify the illusion that Finn places some value on personality! Brittany's sweet... and Quinn, they had that whole thing last year, I _know _he still has feelings for her -'

'How do you know that?'

'I heard him say it once,' said Rachel in a small voice. 'I got Quinn to ask him out so I could make sure he would be faithful to me, and he said he still had feelings for her. He didn't go out with her, but - anyway, that's not important, my point is that Santana is evil. Finn doesn't even _like _Santana. He rolls his eyes every time she opens her mouth - that means dislike, I should know, people do that when I talk all the time. And he had sex with her anyway. What does that say about him?'

'Well, honey, he's a teenage boy,' said Carole resignedly. And teenage boys, unfortunately, don't always think with their heads. And Finn's head... wasn't the most rational to begin with. He was led by two things, emotion and other people's expectations; sometimes he allowed a little too much weight to the latter one.

'Excusing his behaviour because of his age only encourages it. I used to think Finn could look past all the superficial stuff...' Rachel hesitated. 'I'm not as thin or as pretty as Quinn or Santana or Brittany, I don't look like them... but I thought he loved me anyway, for me. It turns out I'm the one he lies to and Santana Lopez, who looks like a lingerie model and has a face like a Maian goddess, is the one he sleeps with.'

Carole was shocked. This was a girl who wore miniskirts with pride, who stood up on stage and sang so wonderfully that people still talked about it for months afterward - the girl who looked good in argyle and made Finn blush wearing overalls? Rachel Berry didn't know she was beautiful?

'Besides,' she continued, her eyes filling up with tears, 'do you know why Santana got pissed off enough to actually tell me about their little rendezvous? It was because I was sticking up for Finn. I always do that. I _love _him. But Santana calls me names and makes fun of my clothes, and tells me to move to Israel, and Finn either just stands there or... laughs. Because it's _so _funny that everyone at school thinks I'm a freak.'

And that was Finn too. So caught up in what other people thought that he sometimes forgot his own opinions... that he liked Rachel's animal sweaters. That he thought she was prettier and more smart and talented and fantastic than all those other girls put together. Carole knew those things were true, because she had heard him say them. But she wondered how often he remembered to tell Rachel.

'I kissed Puck,' said Rachel quietly, 'because I wanted to make him feel as bad as I did. Like he wasn't always sure that I loved him. Like he wasn't good enough for _me, _for a change. And then,' she went on, her voice wobbling, 'we drew at Sectionals and - he said he wouldn't lie to me again, ever, and I realized that he hadn't meant to hurt me, but I hurt him on _purpose _and - and - he was _right _to break up with me!'

Rachel was crying now, tears running down her cheeks in rivulets, her face crumpled. She walked over to her desk, plucked a tissue out of a cardboard box that was tucked away behind some magazines and buried her face in it.

Carole was... stunned. She had come here looking for the missing piece to the puzzle of why Rachel and Finn, the world's most in love teenagers, had fallen apart all in one afternoon and instead she'd gotten Rachel's heart on her sleeve... and a whole new look at her son, who unlike other boys his age had no trouble at all telling his mother that he loved her, but for some reason couldn't get his girlfriend to understand that he loved _her._

'Rachel,' said Carole gently. 'I think you should tell Finn all this.'

But she wasn't listening. She had her back turned now, facing her desk, fiddling with her phone - mirroring Finn's actions earlier that night.

'Oh, nooo...' Rachel muttered, staring down at the screen of her phone, her hand flying to her mouth. Carole's heart sunk. What had Finn, completely oblivious to the effect his every word and action had on this girl, said now...

'Rachel?'

She spun around, eyes wide at the sound of Carole's voice as though she'd forgotten she was there, and start babbling.

'Um - look, you have to believe me, I did _not _ask him to come here and I don't - oh God, oh God -' she squealed, fluttering her hands nervously and looking at Carole as though she was holding a sword to her throat. 'I _swear _I haven't asked him -'

'What are you talking about?' said Carole sharply, her stomach sinking further. Not Finn, but...

'Puck's here,' Rachel said quickly. 'He just texted me, he's outside the house. He wants me to go outside to talk to him - he and my dads don't really get along very well -'

'Oh, of course they don't,' growled Carole. Puck was like parent kryptonite. She stood up. 'Rachel, I believe you when you say you love Finn. But if you want to fix your relationship with him, you have to get rid of Puck.'

'It's not Puck's fault, I'm the one who kissed _him. _He pulled away -'

'Do you really want to start that argument?' interrupted Carole loudly. Rachel looked surprised, and she sighed.

'I understand why you did what you did, now, but that doesn't make it right. You don't want to go defending Puck if you have any chance of getting Finn to forgive you. Admittedly,' she said quickly, as Rachel opened her mouth to protest, 'you have some forgiving to do too. But if you want Finn back, you can't have a relationship with Puck. You deserve Finn's trust, I know that, but Puck will never have it back now.'

'But Puck's... _kind of_ my friend,' insisted Rachel, though she appeared a little doubtful about the accuracy of that specific term. She looked torn; clearly willing to do anything to get Finn to take her back, but reluctant to hurt Puck in the process. 'And he's in Glee club. We have to sing together. And _I _kissed _him!'_

'Regardless of who kissed who, and though I'm glad to hear Puck's morals have improved at least a little bit since Quinn, you need to tell him to leave,' said Carole firmly.

Rachel looked upset, but she didn't argue, wiping the remaining tears off her face with the back of her hand, and she picked up her phone, dialling Puck's number and setting it back down. A dial tone filled the room for a few seconds - and then there was a muffled clatter as Puck answered.

'Hey, Rachel?'

'Hi, Noah,' Rachel replied nervously. 'Look, now's not a really good time and I don't think we should be -'

'I know, I just think we should work out some way to explain to Finn -'

Puck's voice was cut off suddenly, with a strangled yell and a thump. Rachel looked at Carole, confused.

'Puck?'

There was a pause, and then - 'What the hell? Kurt's dad just tackled me!'

Oh.

Crap.

Rachel shrieked and ran over to her window; Carole, inwardly cursing her husband's recent lack of inhibitions when it came to inflicting violence on the students of McKinley, followed her. It was dark now, but the lawn was illuminated by porch lights; and wrestling in the middle of all that silky, perfectly manicured grass - square and exposed like a boxing ring - was Burt and Puck (and a small, black, phone-shaped thing on the grass next to them that she assumed was the reason they could still hear them both grunting through Rachel's Nokia). Puck seemed to be merely trying to fight Burt off, and his superior size and muscles were doing the trick - Burt, however, was throwing himself into causing Puck pain. The result was Puck on his back on the ground, his hands raised above his shoulders to keep off a panting, swinging Burt whose face was growing red... Carole's heart started thumping hard. His heart...

'We've got to stop them!' shouted Rachel, and she sped off out of her room. Carole followed her, berating herself for listening to Burt's idiocy and coming here in the first place - the plan was falling apart. Before she reached the landing, her own cellphone started buzzing in her pocket, and the tune of 'I Think I Want To Marry You' chirped at her like some sick, evil little munchkin, the technological version of those rude little kids who like to tell potty jokes at funerals. Rachel, still just visible from the top of the stairs, disappeared out the front door - and Carole hurried after her, pulling her phone out at the same time.

'Hello?' she said breathlessly. Wait, why was she answering her phone? Burt and Puck were fighting on the front lawn. She could still hear their muffled yells, now joined by Rachel's screaming of peace platitudes.

_'Anger and intolerance are the enemies of correct understanding!'_

... Gandhi?

'Carole! Thank God you picked up -'

Kurt's voice was strained and jerky with his own breathing, and there was rustling and jingling as if his phone was being shaken - it sounded as though he was running, fast.

'Kurt?' asked Carole, stopping in her tracks. He sounded anxious. 'Are you alright? What's going on?'

'Finn kind of knows what you're doing.'

_What?_

'What?'

'You said you were going to get groceries and you've been gone for almost forty-five minutes! The grocery store is on our street! Finn may think the congregation of verbs has something to do with stars that form words in the sky but he's not an idiot.'

Oh God. Oh God. Things could not possibly get any worse. Finn was going to kill her and Burt was either going to have a heart attack or get arrested for assaulting a minor.

'So what - he just guessed I was at Rachel's?' _How _would he possibly guess that?

'He pulled it out of me,' panted Kurt, ashamed. 'He can be very persuasive when he concentrates - he once convinced Mercedes to come to school without a single piece of jewelry. He knows you're at Rachel's - he's on his way there now! I'm running after him but he's a lot bigger than me and I lost sight of him a while ago - Rachel's house is only about twelve blocks away, he should be there soon -'

Just as Kurt paused to take breath, Carole heard another voice join the fray outside; deep and angry and very familiar. She ran out the front door.

Rachel's pleas for Burt and Puck to take inspiration from Gandhi's policies on peace had clearly and unsurprisingly failed, but Burt seemed to be tiring and had decided to just knee Puck instead of expending energy on raising his arms; Puck now just looked bored and a little annoyed, glancing at Rachel with an expression that blatantly said 'See what I do for you?' No-one had noticed Finn yet, standing on the footpath behind them and looking murderous.

'What the _hell?'_

It was as if everyone on the lawn had been electrically shocked; they all started and their heads whipped around to look at Finn. Burt looked sheepish; Puck looked apprehensive; Rachel looked terrified. She stepped towards Carole's son with tears in her eyes.

'Finn?'

'Rachel, what the hell is Puck doing here?' asked Finn furiously. Rachel flinched at his tone; harsh, unforgiving and cold, and Carole couldn't help but feel sorry for her.

'Dude, I was just -'

'Shut up, Puck, I asked Rachel,' snapped Finn, sparing a filthy look for the guy on the ground who was now just lying propped up on his elbows next to Burt, who scrambled quickly at his knees and at whose sight Finn's mouth dropped open in stunned disbelief.

'Burt, were you fighting Puck?'

His eyes roved the lawn, as if looking for something else to be astonished at; and then they lifted towards the house and he caught Carole's eyes where she stood in the doorway.

'Mom!' he yelled, striding forward past Rachel, past Puck and Burt to stand in front of her on the porch with clenched fists and betrayal in his eyes. 'You came to talk to _Rachel?'_

Carole stared back at her son. He didn't look like a boy who was heartbroken over his girlfriend's cheating; who missed her or loved her. He looked awful; angry and hard. But Carole could see, because she had known him since he was born, that the real reason for his anger was that Carole's visit to Rachel had made him think there might be another side to the story. That he was wrong. And she could see that he _did _love Rachel. He just needed to make Rachel see that, and forget about everyone else but the two of them.

'I came to find out why she kissed Puck,' she said gently. 'And I know you're mad at her, but I think you should listen to what she has to say.'


	3. Chapter 3

Hello everybody,

I'm not a big fan of long, rambling author's notes so I'll try to keep it short. Firstly, I want to say thank you to everyone who reviewed – your praise and encouragement was such a fantastic first experience of ffnet and I'm really glad you all enjoyed my story.

I want to apologize not updating for so long. This story is now complete – Carole's role in Finn and Rachel's journey is over for now and their reconciliation is something that happens between them. The purpose of Carole, in this two shot, was to make Finn see there might be another side to the story, because if his mother sympathized with Rachel... I think that's maybe the only thing that would make him listen to her with an open mind. And Rachel needed Carole's encouragement in order to be honest with Finn.

I'm intending to write a one shot to follow this up, about the conversation between Rachel and Finn. I hope I do you all justice

Thanks,

IslandBell.


End file.
